One of our most popular questions is: Do solar lights charge on cloudy days?
As I write this blog post, it's currently 55 degrees and overcast in Southern California - which makes it an opportune time to respond to this question!
As we know, Solar lights are a great way to save money and reduce your carbon footprint. So if you're thinking about buying solar lights, you may be wondering if they'll work on cloudy days or in the winter. Will they need direct sunlight? The short answer is no. Solar lights don't need direct sunlight in order to work; they just need daylight (which means that overcast days are fine). You should still leave them out during the day so that there's time for them to recharge their batteries before nightfall!
Solar lights need sunlight to recharge. This means that as long as there is daylight — even cloudy days — you'll have light at night.
Solar lights need sunlight to recharge. This means that as long as there is daylight -- even cloudy days -- you'll have light at night.
The latest solar panel technology absorbs energy from the sun during the day and stores it in a battery for use at night. When the sun goes down, these lamps turn on automatically and stay lit for 8-12 hours depending on how much sunlight they were able to absorb during the day.
The type of weather you get plays a part in how much your solar light works. You may not be able to charge your lights on a rainy day or when it's dark for several days, but regular overcast weather won't keep them from storing energy.
The type of weather you get plays a part in how much your solar light works. You may not be able to charge your lights on a rainy day or when it's dark for several days, but regular overcast weather won't keep them from storing energy.
Some types of solar lights need direct sunlight to charge up and others can be charged by any kind of light (even indoor lighting).
tl;dr
You don't need direct sunlight for solar lights to charge. You just need daylight, which means that as long as it's not dark for several days in a row or raining nonstop, your lights will work!